London 2023 - Week 1

I was very proud of myself for posting EVERY night of our trip. No matter how late I was up, I always took time to post on Instagram and Facebook so my family at home could see what we were up to. The latest post was at 2:00 am on Saturday, June 3. More about that from Paris. 

I LOVE LONDON! I love that we spend 2 weeks in London, getting to know the South Kensington neighborhood, finding favorite places to get food, learning the tube, etc. It's so dreamy. King Charles had just been coronated, so the city was especially festive with flags, buntings, signage on windows, etc. HRH. 

Our first full day was a Sunday. It was Mother's Day and I got to sit by Mel at church. I wore my MOM necklace that the girls gave me years and years ago. They rode bikes to Walmart to buy it for me. We went to church at the historic Hyde Park chapel, then went to the V&A. We bought lunch for everyone and enjoyed an exhibit called Hallyu: The Korean Wave. The exhibit highlighted the influence Korea has had on pop culture, including the song Gangnam Style, K-pop groups, anime, and a recent winner of "Project Runway." This time in Europe, I had fun taking photos of things in exhibits and at museums that I found unique...things that spoke to me. Mel and I had fun walking through an exhibit on the history of fashion, finding our favorite looks. The V&A is in a beautiful building. It was built by Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, to encourage appreciation of the arts. It's free and within walking distance of our lodgings. 

I was blessed to have a room that had a functioning window, so I was able to open and shut it. My room was smaller than last year, but it had everything I needed. Natalie and I found a more reasonably priced store at which to grocery shop. I got my usual bread, salami, cheese, treats, fruit, and drinkable yogurt. 

This outfit was one of my favorites in the V&A

Groceries and laundry. Getting settled in

Historic pieces at the V&A that I loved

Mother's Day at the V&A with my girlie

Kids enjoying the museum's beautiful courtyard 

Olympics volunteer uniform

Korean influence on fashion

Minju Kim, winner of Next in Fashion, designed this

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

My perfect room

Got word that our student had been leaving their apartment alone and out after curfew. We had a talk with him. He said he had left to find privacy to talk to his mom for mother's day. He said he walked around the neighborhood. I had a gut feeling that "around the neighborhood" could be anywhere. We told him he needed to try to find privacy in the building. 

Monday we went to Raeburn. Christopher Raeburn is a designer who is passionate about sustainability. His first line was comprised of garments made from military parachutes that he bought really cheap on Ebay. He repurposes soccer uniforms, silk military maps, and other items. His story is incredible. Each student got to embellish a t-shirt with heat pressed patches. They also got time for Q&A with Christopher himself. It was a great way to start the week. 

It was around this time that we started letting students navigate themselves through the city. Instead of meeting at a place and traveling together, we told them where and when to meet. It was up to them to get to the designated spot with a buddy or two. It is against the rules to travel alone and to be out after curfew for our safety. We had a lot of returned missionaries and they were very independent. They appreciated the ability to explore and travel in smaller groups. Natalie and I loved the lower stress. The first time we did it, I commented that I felt we were forgetting something. We were forgetting 24 students. We told them they were welcome to come with us, but they usually found their way with friends. Some got very comfortable very quickly. Some never tried to navigate. I challenged myself to learn and I did it!

Monday night, I was leaving the group with Natalie and a few students. A conversation with Mel went like this:

Mel: where are you going?

Me: I'm going to see "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Mel: I want to see it

Me: you didn't want to see it 2 months ago when we bought our cheap tickets. Look and see if you can still find a seat

Mel: (on her phone, looking) I can find a seat but it's 120 pounds. 

Me: (thinking whoa...my ticket was 35 pounds) Get the ticket. I'll pay for it if you really want to come. I don't want you to miss it.

Mel: (after we got to our seats) mom, look over the railing and wave at me

Mel had a seat in about the 5th row. I was in the nosebleed seats. We all LOVED it. Wow, it was a fantastic production. Adults played the children, Scout, Jem, and Dill. Those actors really tapped into their inner child. It was a highlight. 

the whole group with Christopher Raeburn

Me and Mel

All the students with their creations

Mel with her shirt

Christopher talking to half of our group while the other half made their shirts

It seems that they sometimes close the store for sales and encourage people to bring their clothes in for repairs. They open the showroom for sewing machine use to fix clothing. 

I vividly remember these dresses from last year.

Hi Mel!

Hi mom!

Tuesday we had a walking tour of Savile Row with Cindy Lawford. The students love tours with Cindy. She's so dynamic and so knowledgeable. Once again, the students were respectful and asked great questions. I may be biased, but I loved the questions Mel would ask. We saw where they make men's bespoke suits, learned the history of the suit, saw where military uniforms are made, and learned about guns, tobacco, and perfume - all a part of the high end luxury London life. We all saw Hamilton that night. 

Some of the biggest, most beautiful scissors I've ever seen

Cindy is in the bottom middle in pink pants

Gieves and Hawkes...uniforms

Turnbull and Asser was especially festive

This tailor showed what he was working on

Yes, I geeked out when I saw the patterns for George Micael's clothing

Me and Mel about to enter the room where it happens - Hamilton

Natalie and Maile both bought perfume at Floris. I got samples

Floris, perfumer

Wednesday we went to Stonehenge and Bath. By this time, some students were proving to be very clingy to other students, wearing on them. Natalie had the idea to create an activity in Bath. We put students in groups and told them that the group that sent us the best photo would get a treat the next day. We split up clingers and clingees. The students had a great time exploring Bath and noting the architecture (as assigned), and we got some hilarious submissions. It's always a long day, but such a great day in Bath. Natalie and I almost stopped at a miniature golf place. We relaxed and walked around. 

BATH

A royal croissant in front of The Royal Crescent

Directors at Stonehenge

All students were obsessed with sheep, so this group joined "sheep" at the Royal Crescent

the Winners! Maia, Emily, Cami and Cameron

Natalie and I paid a bit of extra money to go into this lovely park in Bath

the Roman Baths

Me, Mel, Natalie, Allie

Natalie and the Royal Crescent

We wore them out!

Thursday was another walking tour with Cindy. The student who was an issue in Edinburgh didn't join us. He messaged us that his alarm didn't go off. His roommates said he slept through his alarm. I was done with that student. I never felt we had gotten a straight answer from him. Natalie wanted to let him get on the tube and join us. I was very emotional and against it. I reluctantly said that if we would let a female student travel alone, I was ok with him joining us. I hated that we had to keep watching our phones, looking for messages so he could meet up with us. I still don't believe his alarm didn't go off. I bet he was out late the night before and slept in. I decided I had to let Edinburgh go and move on. I did. Until Paris...We saw Women's designers. One student had to go to the bathroom badly. There just aren't bathrooms everywhere. Sometimes those students drove me nuts. They don't have the courage to ask the tour guide either. They ask me and Natalie. I don't know the neighborhood. I don't live here. We found a bathroom. We also saw Wicked. We had an extra ticket, so Cindy joined us. I don't get all the hype over Wicked. Didn't love it. It's still fun to be at a musical and to be together. 

Emily Burdette, Maile Fisher, Melia, me, and Natalie at Wicked

recreating the Wicked poster

1980's Dana would have worn this and I would wear it today

A beautiful store front

I love finding clothing that speaks to me

Look at the pinks 

Alexander McQueen

McQueen

The details

Bee inspiration

Also McQueen

Feathers 

Listening to Cindy tell them about the history of Liberty department store

Look at this light fixture

Just a beautiful window and navy tile by the restrooms in Liberty

Liberty of London from the inside

Tower of London Day. It rained. It wasn't too bad, but we did need our umbrellas. The crowds are much bigger than they were last year. It seems that the whole world is traveling again. There are especially a lot of Americans. Everywhere. The students taught me some fun games as we waited in line to see the crown jewels. The game goes that you describe a character from a movie. I laughed every time Thomas took his turn..."I'm a middle aged woman who likes to read..." Then when someone else recognizes the character, they jump in and describe another character from the movie. I'm not very good at it, but I loved watching them play. 

We officially found the BEST sticky toffee pudding on Friday, May 19, at Poppies, a fish and chips place. It was perfect. Who would have expected it to be there? We then went to an exhibit at Kensington Palace about fashion through the ages. It was very well put together. They had old pieces next to new pieces. It was fun to see how current fashion is influenced by past trends. I saw a shirt that is similar to one that a student and I both have. 

Poppies, home of the #1 Sticky Toffee Pudding. We tried 9.

The winner!!!!!

There's a fun park with iconic statues. Mary Poppins

Harry Potter

Tower of London

Creepy gate

Tower Bridge

Statue of Queen Victoria in front of Kensington Palace

Old and new fashion

Dress worn by Audrey Hepburn to the Oscars in 1954 

Undergarments/shapers

Beautiful staircase in Kensington Palace

Saturday was free day. We were going to take a train to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian, but we felt uneasy about it, so we didn't go. We went to Portabello Market instead. It was a fun, quiet day. Lots of things to see and relaxing. I got a nap. First nap in 2 weeks. It was glorious. Sometimes Mel hung out with me, other times she was with friends she had made on the trip. I'm glad she made some good friends. The students seemed to enjoy being with her. 

Just a beautiful house in the Portabello Market neighborhood

Some memorable moments:

Natalie and I were walking back from the tube station to our building. We were at a stop light, waiting and Natalie noticed some police motorcycles down the street. She suggested we wait to see what was up. Cars were coming our direction with the police escort. Then she said to get our phones ready for video in case it was something important. We were ready just in time to see HRH, yes, King Charles ride right past us. It was very obviously him in the back seat of a car with very tinted windows. We were so excited! We could not wait to tell everyone. 

We went to free organ recitals on Sunday nights, We ate sausage rolls, at Lee Hjorth's recommendation. We saw the sights, spent time in parks, entered beautiful churches, and thoroughly enjoyed time in London.